Page 33 of Bonded

Darn. Disappointment settled in. I kept my feelings to myself using the mental filters that the ship showed me to use.

I hated feeling so helpless. Though this was a very different type of trapped from being caged and transported as a prisoner, I was still as useless as ever, depending on others to save me from myself.

If only I could see what was happening. That would at least make me feel connected to something. I didn’t want to keep distracting Vryek from something important by constantly texting him random questions.

A tingling awareness took over my body, and for a moment I felt weightless. My vision sharpened, my hearing attuned to all the surrounding noise. Within one moment, I heard snippets of conversation from a million voices. I had to catch my breath, but unlike the initial linking process, I didn’t feel overwhelmed.

Instead, when I wanted the noise to quieten, it did just that. It became a soft murmur, almost like the background noise of soft static. And yet, when I wanted to focus on something that sounded interesting, I could.

A familiar hum tugged at my consciousness, and it was the ship. That was right. This was how it had felt to be linked to it. My head still spun with a little vertigo, but when I focused on one spot, it went away. I stopped trying to be in two places and instead imagined myself on the ship.

Its presence felt both far away and close. I could almost hear Ithran’s low, controlled speech. It was muffled, as if trying to listen in on a conversation behind closed doors. I concentrated even more on that sound, willing myself to get closer, and the whole foredeck of the ship’s bridge came into view.

There, I saw Ithran standing with his feet planted shoulder width apart. His bottom set of arms were clasped at military parade rest at his back. His top set of arms crossed over his chest. He spoke to someone on comms. When I followed his gaze, the space station’s landing dock came into view. They would be here soon.

I squeaked in delight at the joy of discovering this gift.

Okay?Vryek’s text lit up on my screen, but it was almost like a redundant echo. I had felt him ask me well before the text appeared.

Yes. Just figuring something out. Don’t worry about me.

As I sent that text, I knew that would be as pointless as me telling him not to breathe. His default personality was worrying.

Okay.

I carefully went back to that shared space in my mind that marked my link with the ship. It was a curious little pocket of imagination. A mix of daydreaming and zoning out when doing repetitive tasks. It was as if I could take a back seat to my over taxed anxious mind. I could see through the ship’s sensors, observe all the little daily things that the crew probably overlooked or took for granted.

It was nice not to feel so alone.

A warm feeling bloomed and gathered at the base of my skull. It was the place that I’d thought of as my link with the ship.Yes?

Instead of an answer, I received some mental images from the bots. Various video feeds flickered in my mind’s eye. I focused on one square, and it expanded so I could see what happened in real time.

From this vantage point, it was a bot that stuck to the sides of the wall. I could see various horns and tops of heads. No one noticed the movement of the bot around them, even when I jumped from one bot to the other. There were so many of them, with great optics, so in no time, I could scan back to the foredeck where Ithran was now maneuvering the ship into a holding pattern. The way all four of his arms moved together in a graceful choreography surprised me.

When I first looked at him, I thought he was little more than a savage berserker. Not unlike the various races that plundered the borders of the colony that stole our food stores and killed without mercy. The way his thick, long neck jut forward so that he looked more like a mythical dragon than a humanoid along with his four arms and stripe of red down the center of his head screamed “violent predator” to me.

My cheeks heated with secret shame that I judged him so harshly at first glance. Especially when he was so gallant toward me. I made a note to learn more about his race so I could get to know him better. Apparently, he had a very specialized diet…

The ship slowed down. The pull of gravity was a physical sensation that I felt in my stomach.

He was still far from the space station dock. Why would he slow so much? I had it in mind to test the distance between us, and see if I could communicate with him via the ship’s onboard computer or a nearby jack, but then Ithran started removing the outer layers of his armor.

Once he pulled the tunic up and over his head, revealing his scaled, muscular back, I blinked away from the ship, and was fully present with Ruzan and Vryek again.

My heart raced, and my cheeks bloomed with heat. I was grateful that I hid in the bag. My skin tone usually hid my embarrassment well, but my eyes gave me away every time.

I was no stranger to the male form, but I didn’t want to feel like a creeper watching Ithran get ready. Mortifying, and something I never want to repeat.

After my experience with the ship, it made me curious about what would happen if I pushed a bit to access Vryek or Ruzan’s link? They had made sure everything was separate for my sake, but what if it didn’t need to be? After all, linking with the ship wasn’t overwhelming once I got used to the idea, and before the inadvertent peep show, I was enjoying myself.

I felt like I was sharing an intimate moment with the ship.

From what I understood, Vryek would do most of the talking during this trade, and Ruzan would be the silent muscle. Ruzan had said that I was welcome to link with him at any time. Hopefully, he wasn’t just saying that to be polite.

I tried to be as gentle as possible when I tapped him. It was pleasant when the ship reached out to me and wanted to duplicate that effect with Ruzan. After a few seconds without a response, I tried again, this time while thinking of him and my desire to connect with him.

Maybe he didn’t feel like talking…

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